NEWS AND INSIGHTS UPDATE:
Forbes released its annual list of the 10 best countries for women last week, and the United States is noticeably missing from the list. According to Forbes, the 10 best countries for women in 2012 are:
- Iceland: Taking the top spot for the third year in a row, Iceland is “lauded for its women in political and economic positions of leadership.”
- Finland: Up from the third spot on the list in 2011, Finland’s new position at #2 matches its jump in the WEC Global Gender Gap this year.
- Norway: Moving down from the #2 position on the list of the best countries for women in 2011, Norway still ranks high as one of the Nordic countries (other than Denmark) that “have closed over 80% of the gender gap across health, education, political, and economic participation.”
- Sweden: More women have entered the workforce in Sweden thanks to business and government commitments to parental leave.
- Ireland: For two years, Ireland has ranked fifth in the list of the top countries for women. Ireland has made great strides in closing the gender gap since 2006 when the WEC began measuring the Global Gender Gap.
- New Zealand: Since 2006, New Zealand has appeared on the list of the top countries for women.
- Denmark: Another country that has kept its position in the list of the top countries for women for many years is Denmark, which has ranked eighth since 2008.
- The Philippines: The only country in Asia to close the gender gap in education and health in 2012 was The Philippines, which enabled the nation to earn a spot on the list of the top countries for women.
- Nicaragua: The number of women in parliament in Nicaragua has risen from 21% to 40% and the percentage of women in ministerial positions increased from 38% to 45%. Those leaps enabled Nicaragua to take the ninth spot on the list of top countries for women in 2012.
- Switzerland: For the third year, Switzerland appears on the top 10 list by consistently showing “gains in educational attainment, economic participation, and political empowerment.”
Get the details: The 10 Best Countries For Women In 2012 via www.forbes.com
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Susan Gunelius
Susan Gunelius is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Women on Business. She is a 30-year veteran of the marketing field and has authored a dozen books about marketing, branding, and social media, including the highly popular Ultimate Guide to Email Marketing, 30-Minute Social Media Marketing, Content Marketing for Dummies, Blogging All-in-One for Dummies and Kick-ass Copywriting in 10 Easy Steps. Susan’s marketing-related content can be found on Entrepreneur.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, and more. Susan is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She has worked in corporate marketing roles and through client relationships with AT&T, HSBC, Citibank, Intuit, The New York Times, Cox Communications, and many more large and small companies around the world. Susan also speaks about marketing, branding and social media at events around the world and is frequently interviewed by television, online, radio, and print media organizations about these topics. She holds an MBA in Management and Strategy and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and is a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC).
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Before posting this comment I did a quick search and found, apart from Marissa Mayer of Yahoo, another great employer of women from a country not mentioned above is the privatey owned German Schaeffler Group. No wonder really as the matriarch is a formidable woman called Marie-Elisabeth Schaeffler. I see that over the next two years they will be expanding their operation in Hungary, which opened in 1997 with just 100 workers. Now there are 1844. By 2014 this number will have increased to 2500 – and guess what – so far two of the key positions have gone to women, namely Mathe Agnes as Purchasing Manager and Rita Kenyeres as Personnel Manager. I really don’t think that men should assume their positions are safe from us women any longer.
OK. Let me try to follow this logic. Out of all countries in the world Nicaragua ranks 118 in life expectancy, 71 in health systems, 74 in health performance (well behind Azerbaijan), 173 in literacy and does not fully comply with the human Trafficking Victim’s Protection Act. However, I would be better off there than here in NYC because the women in ministerial positions rose from 38% to 45%.
I won’t even start with the Phillipines. But I am not understanding it.
Forbes – Where do you get these people?